Yeah, no worries. My job is decently rigorous, but I'm still not working on extremely mentally taxing things. Even then, I usually just relax after work. Sometimes I can get half an hour of reading in, but after having my surplus labor value exploited all day I feel burned out and just want to relax.
As far as shorter form stuff, someone posted their leftist RSS feed here a few days ago. If you didn't know, RSS is like a news aggregator, so you get a bunch of news and updates all in one place. If you're looking for short things to read during the week, I'd recommend something like that. For a really short read, Smedley Butler's pamphlet "War is a Racket" is a really short read, and especially potent coming from a US General.
If you're working towards a scientific degree, Engel's "Socialism: Utopian and Scientific" is a great explanation of why Marxists hold the beliefs they do, and examines the marxist view of socialism as a science. It's also only like 100-150 pages or so.
For stuff to watch, Michael Parenti's talks on youtube are absolutely fantastic. He's a super talented speaker, and a really good political analyst.
My original response was based on a quick reading of your question, since a lot of anarchists and newer leftists have a difficult time working through theory. Not to get into sectarianism, but the reason you see a lot of people (myself included) mention that they are former anarchists is because once you start reading more theory, you start to get a better understanding of Marxism and therefore Marxism-Leninism. The most common path to becoming a ML involves being an anarchist at some point.
Good luck in your reading comrade! (also nice username btw)
After you finish Socialism, I honestly can't recommend Lenin's "State and Revolution" enough. If you're kind of confused why MLs support a transitionary socialist state despite the authoritarian nature of state power, Lenin clearly explains why and how the revolution must be conducted. What's really cool about State and Rev is that a few years after writing it, Lenin proved his hypothesis during the October Revolution.
That book is what turned me, and many others, from anarchists into Marxists. I don't want to say too much, because you should absolutely read it yourself, but it's a fantastic read. There's a reason it's considered the cornerstone of modern socialism, and basically every reading list on socialism lists it near the top.
ayyy yeah, I talked to him on reddit a while ago mentioning this site to him before it launched. That video is fucking fantastic, it's hilarious and well-sourced.
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Yeah, no worries. My job is decently rigorous, but I'm still not working on extremely mentally taxing things. Even then, I usually just relax after work. Sometimes I can get half an hour of reading in, but after having my surplus labor value exploited all day I feel burned out and just want to relax.
As far as shorter form stuff, someone posted their leftist RSS feed here a few days ago. If you didn't know, RSS is like a news aggregator, so you get a bunch of news and updates all in one place. If you're looking for short things to read during the week, I'd recommend something like that. For a really short read, Smedley Butler's pamphlet "War is a Racket" is a really short read, and especially potent coming from a US General.
If you're working towards a scientific degree, Engel's "Socialism: Utopian and Scientific" is a great explanation of why Marxists hold the beliefs they do, and examines the marxist view of socialism as a science. It's also only like 100-150 pages or so.
For stuff to watch, Michael Parenti's talks on youtube are absolutely fantastic. He's a super talented speaker, and a really good political analyst.
My original response was based on a quick reading of your question, since a lot of anarchists and newer leftists have a difficult time working through theory. Not to get into sectarianism, but the reason you see a lot of people (myself included) mention that they are former anarchists is because once you start reading more theory, you start to get a better understanding of Marxism and therefore Marxism-Leninism. The most common path to becoming a ML involves being an anarchist at some point.
Good luck in your reading comrade! (also nice username btw)
deleted by creator
After you finish Socialism, I honestly can't recommend Lenin's "State and Revolution" enough. If you're kind of confused why MLs support a transitionary socialist state despite the authoritarian nature of state power, Lenin clearly explains why and how the revolution must be conducted. What's really cool about State and Rev is that a few years after writing it, Lenin proved his hypothesis during the October Revolution.
That book is what turned me, and many others, from anarchists into Marxists. I don't want to say too much, because you should absolutely read it yourself, but it's a fantastic read. There's a reason it's considered the cornerstone of modern socialism, and basically every reading list on socialism lists it near the top.
deleted by creator
ayyy yeah, I talked to him on reddit a while ago mentioning this site to him before it launched. That video is fucking fantastic, it's hilarious and well-sourced.